About Me

I am my wife's husband, the father of my daughters, and am learning how to pastor. Fortunately, I have the rest of my life to get these things something close to right. I fully expect it to take that long.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Does strange become normal just because everyone does it?

Weddings are strange to me. Don't get me wrong, I like them... well, most of them, but that doesn't make them normal. I've been to a bunch of weddings over the last few years and they are all pretty much the same, I mean every wedding is special and unique like a snow flake bla bla bla. Seriously though, in America, in the hills of Thailand, and in Uganda the same formula seems to be followed. A bunch of family and friends get together, the couple makes promises that they are without the capacity to understand, there is a party, and everyone goes home. Fun right? Hopefully. But what about the next day? The couple just had their lives fundamentally transformed and now they are expected to proceed to "life as normal", did anyone remember to tell them that there is no "life as normal"?

Like I told the camera guy on Saturday, "It's dangerous to ask a single guy to talk about marriage, he doesn't have a clue what is going on." That said, am I wrong? Is it that much different from telling a kid who has never been in over his head all the principles of swimming, taking him to a pool where there is a great party celebrating his decision, throwing him in the deep end, then walking over to have a conversation with a neighbor while the party breaks apart and everyone goes home?

I don't even think it's wrong exactly, just strange. It makes me wonder if there is a bunch of other stuff that we consider normal just because everyone does it, but in reality is flat out wonky? Every time I sit down and think about my faith, I come to the conclusion that it really is wonky. Not wonky bad, just wonky like marriage. It's strange, but it works, and I think it's actually good. I've left my family and friends, traveled to the other side of the world, and I talk about something that can't be directly seen, a lot of people don't know about, but is more important than breathing.

I spent most of yesterday in a large shack-like church up on a hill in a small poor community with a few people I knew and a bunch that I didn't. I was first up, went in cold, talked about Jesus for 45 min and was overcome with emotion. Other people spoke, we all worshiped, there was a lot of prayer, there was some prophetic stuff, a lot of tears and a few shrieks. It was obvious to all of us that God was doing something, and that it was a big deal, but if you showed a video of it to a group of people most of them would think it was just wacky. I think I'd have to agree with them, and I think that's okay. Apparently humanity has decided that being involved in something that is wonky and strange is just fine, as long as you know what the value is.